November 6, 2017

Standing in the squad room of the Lawrence Police Department, Mayor Steve Collier and Lawrence Police Chief David Hofmann announced a proposal to build a Lawrence Police Station. Recognizing the work of City Controller Jason Fenwick who will be recognized as a CFO of the Year by the Indianapolis Business Journal, Mayor Collier indicated that the City’s improved financial status allows them to address the long overdue need of a police station.

When the prior location flooded in 2009, the Lawrence Police Department was moved in an emergency “temporary” re-location to the Government Center where it is today.

“What was supposed to be temporary, has now been 8 years, and counting,” said Mayor Steve Collier. “The men and women of the Lawrence Police Department have been working to make this inadequate space work for far too long. The time is long past due, to give our law enforcement officers and staff a headquarters that is designed and intended to be a police station.”

The proposed site for the police station is a roughly 4-acre space that includes 5140 to 5162 Post Road, a location known to local residents as the home of the now-closed Snafu Saloon. The site is central to most police run activity. It is less than a mile from 42nd and Post Rd, where the highest level of 911 calls originate.

“With this proposal, we will not only be honoring our men and women of law enforcement with a dedicated state-of-the-art facility to call home, but we will also be transforming a site that is screaming for improvement,” stated Mayor Collier.

The $12.9 million proposal includes a nearly 37,000-square-foot 2-story police station with a fully-equipped basement, a sally port for the safe transfer and processing of arrestees, a 2000-square-foot detached police vehicle storage and suspect vehicle processing garage, and a roughly 150-space parking lot.

In addition to being a more suitable and welcoming space for the public to interact with our officers, the new Station will also have a 112-seat training room that can be used by other public safety agencies and by community organizations.

Providing several examples of how the current space is inadequate for today’s police department needs, Lawrence Police Chief David Hofmann said, “We simply don’t have enough space and the space we have is not well equipped.”

“The proposed Police Station will provide a safer, more secure environment, for officers and the public. It will make public safety operations more efficient, and modernizing our operations will result in better crime-fighting,” stated Chief Hofmann.

Chief Hofmann explained that Lawrence is the backup location for all Marion County 911 Emergency Communication Operations.

“It would be ideal for our police operations to be co-located with our 911 dispatch and communications operations. And I cannot overstate the value of having our 911 Center in a more secure, underground location,” stated Chief Hofmann.

Over the past year, the City conducted a feasibility study, gathered input from officers, and evaluated best practices and national standards. The final result is the proposed construction of a new, dedicated, Lawrence Police Station - a physical location for the Department to call home, and interact with the community it serves.

The proposed station will include a dedicated Roll Call room, multiple interview rooms, a room for arrestees who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, dedicated offices for Command staff, Supervisors, Detectives, the Community Prosecutor, and for the training officer who is currently located offsite.

It will feature an evidence property room with much more capacity – and designated spaces for particularly sensitive items such as firearms, drugs, electronics and homicide evidence. It will include space and storage for Professional Standards, Internal Affairs, the Honor Guard, the FOP, the more than 50 Explorers and their advisors, and Code Enforcement. The new Police Station will also house 911 Communications and Dispatch in a secure, underground, upgraded modern communications-technology facility.

“By building a space that is purposely designed for police functions, we will increase the ease of communications, collaboration, and cohesiveness between divisions – and, importantly, we will improve the security of transfer of items and people inside controlled areas,” said Chief Hofmann.

The City will file a Resolution for the proposed station this week and will formally introduce the Resolution at the November 15th Lawrence Common Council meeting.